Words of Wisdom

Great quotes from some of the intriguing personalities who have been in the pages of Cigar Aficionado

"I feel sometimes that smoking is, believe it or not, more of a private affair. It’s something that I look forward to, that I covet. Therefore I will purposely deny myself several cigars during the day so that I look forward to that evening cigar with greater relish.” —Sylvester Stallone, April 1998

Photo/Steve Wayda

“I used to smoke a lot of cigarettes. Too many, in fact. That’s one of the reasons I took up cigar smoking seriously. I figured the only way to break a bad habit was to replace it with a better habit.” —Jack Nicholson, Summer 1995

Photo/David Yellen

“I tell my sons all the time—I’m never concerned about you, I’m concerned about the people and the company you keep.” —Ray Lewis, October, 2016

Photo/Steve Wayda

“I’m not going to hide out in some back room and tell the world I don’t smoke cigars.” —Chuck Norris, August 1998

Photo/Courtney Grant Winston

“Cigars are just a tremendous addition to the enjoyment of life.” —Rush Limbaugh, Spring 1994

Photo/Jim Wright

“Cigars solicit conversation. You see someone smoking a cigar and you feel instantly closer to them.” —Michael Strahan, December 2014

Photo/Jim Wright

“Everything I do, I enjoy. I go to China to work in a movie one day, to New York to present an award the next. I go to a few business meetings where I get together with friends and talk about how to make one dollar into many dollars. It’s fun. Why would I retire from that?” —Arnold Schwarzenegger, February 2017

Photo/Jim Wright

“I’m too young to consider myself a connoisseur. I just enjoy smoking cigars.” —Usher, October 2014

Photo/Al Parris

“What I really like is playing low-status characters, like the guys in Salvador or About Last Night. I want to play darker stuff, street stuff. I want to be able to be who I am. I swear; I smoke. That’s who I am, and those are the roles I like.” —Jim Belushi, Spring 1994

“The ’60s child in me just loves the fact that I’m fighting against the trend. There are a lot of things about cigars I love because of the anarchist in me. A lot of people are doing that. The cigar business is booming, and it’s lovely in that sense.” —Tom Selleck, Winter 1996

“I enjoy the smell of a good cigar. It relaxes me. It’s a great social activity, because there’s something about smoking a cigar that feels like a celebration.” —Demi Moore, Autumn 1996

“Great athletes have a fear of not wanting to be a failure. I know myself that I have this fear that drives me. I don’t want to embarrass myself. You don’t want to be not successful.” —Wayne Gretzky, April 1997

“Hollywood is a jungle. It’s full of quicksand, vermin and flesh-eating beasts.” —Danny DeVito, Winter 1996/97

Photo/Kent Hanson

“[Kennedy] liked a cigar in a proper setting. He liked a cigar after dinner. Sometimes he would smoke a cigar at the end of the afternoon, but he wasn’t a compulsive smoker. Unfortunately, just as my taste began to develop for Havana cigars, we imposed the embargo.” —Arthur Schlesinger, Autumn 1995

“Life is risky. You can decide to live your life afraid of that happening, or you can decide to live your life the way Americans live their lives, which is unafraid.” —Rudolph W. Giuliani, December 2001

“9/11 brought all of our history right in front of us...things like liberty; things like freedom; the ability for you, for your family, to be able to go to a mall anywhere in this country, sit in one of the movie theaters that exist in that mall; get on a jet, fly someplace around the world. Do whatever you want. The events of 9/11 impacted the way we live and I think it’s healthy for us to think about that.” —Gen. Tommy Franks, December 2003

“Sometimes I used to dream that I was smoking a cigar...I was conscious that I had not permitted myself to smoke anymore, but I was still enjoying it in my sleep.” —Fidel Castro, Summer 1994

“Sometimes when we do so much work each day, you just have to find a way to concentrate on every scene and think about exactly what you’re doing. And sometimes a small amount of pain will wake you up.” —James Gandolfini, April 2001

Photo/John Harding

“If I’d taken my doctor’s advice and quit smoking when he advised me to, I wouldn’t have lived to go to his funeral.” —George Burns, Winter 1994

“I started smoking a cigar going to the games in 1993. It became a ritual for every home game. Each and every day for a home game, I smoked a cigar. I wanted that feeling of success, and relaxation.” —Michael Jordan, August 2005